WBIR-TV
'''WBIR-TV, ch. 10, is the NBC affiliate in Knoxville, Tennessee. The station is O&O by Gannett. It's transmitter is located in Knoxville. 10 News Wx+ is offered through WBIR's DT feed. History WBIR-TV signed on the air on August 12, 1956 as an affiliate of the CBS TV network. It was owned by Jesse W. "Jay" Birdwell along with WBIR radio (1240 AM, now WIFA & 103.5 FM, frequency now occupied by WIMZ). WBIR's sign off was "We are the best in radio," which is where the call letters originated from. Birdwell was one of the partners who had put WJHL-TV, the CBS affiliate for the Tri-Cities on the air in 1953. Shortly after signing on ch. 10, Birdwell gave up his interest in WJHL-TV due to a fairly large grade B signal overlap between the 2 stations. At the time, the FCC normally did not allow common ownership of 2 stations with overlapping signals. In 1963, Birdwell sold his Knoxville stations to Southern Broadcasting Corporation, which merged with the News-Piedmont Publishing Company of Greenville, South Carolina in 1967 to form Multimedia. In 1988, WBIR became an NBC affiliate, swapping affiliations with WKXT-TV (ch. 8, now WVLT-TV). Ironically, ch. 8 had been the original CBS affiliate in Knoxville (when it operated on ch. 26). Multimedia merged with Gannett in 1995. Our Stories In 2006, WBIR celebrated it's 50th anniversary with a special report on some of the past stories captured on WBIR for the past 50 years. These reports were called "Our Stories" & included retrospectives on events such as US Presidents visiting Knoxville & East Tennessee, major crimes & even the 25th Anniversary of the 1982 World's Fair. DTV The station's DT ch. is multiplexed: Analog-to-DT conversion After the analog TV shutdown & DT conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17 2009, WBIR-TV will move it's DT broadcasts back to it's present analog ch. #, 10. News reporters and journalists News Anchors *Robin Wilhoit (6 & 11 PM weekdays) *John Becker (6 & 11 PM weekdays) *LaSaundra Brown (Weekday mornings & Noon) alternates with *Michele Silva *Michele Silva (Weekday mornings & Noon) alternates with *LaSaundra Brown *Russell Biven (Weekday mornings & Live @ 5) *Beth Haynes (Live @ 5) *Yvette Martinez (Weekends) *Brittany Bailey (Weekends) Sports *Steve Phillips (Weekdays) *Kris Budden (Weekends) Weekday fill-in News Reporters *Ken Schwall *Emily Stroud *Yvette Martinez *LaSaundra Brown *Brittany Bailey *Stoney Sharp *Erin Donovan *April Lamb *Jim Matheny *Alison Morrow "Live @ 5 @ 4" Hosts Prior to September 15 2008, this show was aired @ 5 PM on weekdays, but since then airs @ 4 PM. A new name for the program has yet to be announced, with WBIR asking for viewers' opinions on a new name. Hosts are: *Russell Bivens *Beth Haynes Weather *Todd Howell *Mike Witcher *Julya Johnson *Christina Meeks (Fill In Substitute) Traffic *Ed Rupp The Heartland Series *Bill Landry The program, which was conceived in 1984 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, continues to celebrate the people & the land of the entire Appalachian region. In 1998, the series was expanded to a 30-minute version airing each Saturday @ 7:30 PM. It still continues to run the original 5-minute version during the morning news, after 10 News @ Noon & after 10 News NightBeat. Bill Landry has been host for the entire run of the series. Newscast Titles *''The Esso Reporter'' (1956-1960) *''The Big News'' (1960-1970) *''24 Hours'' (1970-1974) *''NewsCenter 10'' (1974-1977) *''Action 10 News'' (1977-7/2004) *''10 News'' (since 7/2004) Newscast Themes *''The Action News Theme'' by Unknown Composer (1970-1972) *''Move Closer to Your World'' by Al Ham (1972-1974 & 1980-1982) *''NBC TV-Radio Newspulse'' by NBC-TV (1974-1980) *''WBIR 1982 News Theme'' by Unknown Composer (1982-1983) *Theme From Firepower by Gato Barbieri (1983-1985) *''Power News V.1 & V.2'' by 615 Music (1985-1997) *''Newsmark'' by 615 Music (1997-2000) *''Heartland'' by 615 Music (2000-2008) *''Gannett News Music Package'' by Rampage Music (since 2008) Past personalities *Lisa Cornwell, (Weekday mornings & Noon) *Moira Kaye, Style *Dan Farkas, reporter & sports *Ben Senger, anchor *Abby Ham, anchor (now anchor @ WKYC) *Josh Roe, sports *Seth Grossman, anchor *Mark Schnyder, anchor & reporter *Teresa Woodard, anchor & reporter *Ted Hall, anchor & reporter (now anchor @ WXIA-TV in Atlanta) *Gary Loe, sports (now anchor of Hockey LoeDown @ WVLT-TV in Knoxville) *Steve Burgin, anchor *Byron Webre, weather *Jim Early, anchor & news director (D) *Cassandra McGee, anchor *Jennifer Mabe, reporter *Rob Braun, anchor & reporter (now anchor @ WKRC-TV in Cincinnati) *Scott Sams, weather & sports *Rex Rainey, weather *Carl Williams, anchor *Marti Skold, weather (now @ KTVX in Salt Lake Utah) *Terri Gruca, anchor (now anchor/reporter @ WCCO-TV in Minneapolis) *Bob Kesling, sports (now Voice of the Vols with Vol Network 3) *Chip Carter, sports *Doc Johnston, anchor *Gene Patterson, anchor and reporter (now Anchor @ WATE-TV in Knoxville) *Sara Allen, host of "Live @ 5" *Nicole Henrich, host of "Style" *Jim Cline, sports *Judy Jenkins, anchor & reporter *Kristin Hoke, anchor & reporter *Kim Carson, weather *Larry Smith, reporter *Todd Summers, sports *Jim Holliday, sports *Phil Rainey, sports *Greeley Kyle, reporter *JaQuitta Williams, anchor & reporter (now reporter/weekend anchor @ WSB-TV in Atlanta) *Bret Dark, anchor *Al Klensch, anchor & reporter *Van Hackett, reporter *Charles Thompson, reporter *Steve Dean, reporter *Pauletta Jackson, reporter *Cheryll Jones, weather *Janet Cunningham, weather *Sonja Smith, reporter *Edye Ellis, anchor *Margie Ison, weather (retired) *Mark Packer, sports (now First @ 4 anchor & Sports Overtime Anchor @ WVLT-TV in Knoxville) *Greg Zorb, sports *Mark Smith, sports *Jennifer Broome, weather *Missy Kane, reporter *Valerie Hyman, reporter *Lindsey Nelson, reporter *Tony Perkins, reporter *Kim Stephens, anchor *Faith Fancher, reporter *Carol Marin, reporter (now @ WMAQ-TV as political reporter) *Deborah Roberts, reporter *Bill Harris, weather *Mark Nagi, sports *Adina Chumley, anchor & reporter *Steve Oglesby, reporter, anchor & newscast producer *Jim Acosta, reporter *Renee Jameson, reporter *Jennifer Leslie, reporter *Mark Johnson, weather *Alysiah Bond, sports *Krista Goldhair, reporter *Tom Poe, anchor *Wallene Dockery, weather *Cheryl Mazur, anchor *Alan Williams, sports (now anchor @ WVLT-TV in Knoxville) *Lori Perry, weather *Tim Cox, anchor & reporter (now @ WXIN-TV in Indianapolis as Gene Cox, which is his first name) *Lance West, anchor & reporter *Lisa Argen, weather *David Nelson, anchor & reporter *Mary Nelson, anchor & reporter *Jason Pack, reporter *Jim Ragonese, reporter *Syan Rhodes, anchor & reporter *Carmen Ainsworth, reporter *Mary Loos, weather *Stephanie Wines, reporter *Chuck Denney, reporter *Foster Arnett, reporter *Janice Williamson, reporter *Ben Bailey, weather *Gina Miller, sports *Jay Beeler, reporter *Laura Hatch, reporter External links *WBIR-TV, 10 News' Website